The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story

Hello and welcome, one and all, to the rather fascinating story of the ‘Beefing’ apples, a small group of apple varieties that were traditionally grown in the counties of Norfolk and Herefordshire, and were often made into “biffins”; the dried, compressed, baked apple sweetmeats that were hugely popular in the nineteenth century, both as street food and as a Christmas gifts, but have rather sadly all-but disappeared since the 1950s.

This series of long-read articles focuses on ‘Beefing’ apple varieties. If you’re interested in Biffins as well as ‘Beefing’ apples, please do take a look at The Norfolk Biffin Story as well.

As I tell the main story of the ‘Beefing’ apples, I’ll be sharing some of the fascinating back-stories, side-stories and incidental details of the apples and the people who have been involved in growing and promoting them down the centuries; from feuding Victorian pomologists, to eighteenth century cider makers, to small landowners and fellow orchard enthusiasts who have grown ‘Beefing’ apples in years gone by.

Sometimes the events and details are clear and the facts speak for themselves; but at other time they’re perhaps a little obscure or unclear. At that point you’ll find me launching into my own speculative theories as to what the underlying stories might be, but I’ll be sure to let you know when I’ve taken off on a flight of fancy and try to keep the facts clearly marked as such.

I’m hoping that this story of the ‘Beefing’ apples won’t just provide an interesting piece of historical detective work for you to read and enjoy, but will also help to encourage more orchardists, home or professional gardeners, and allotmenteers to plant and grow one or more of the three currently available ‘Beefing’ varieties.

I think all three of the ‘Beefing’ apples truly deserve to be much more widely grown than they currently are; it’s rare to see them outside of a specialist fruit collection or historical kitchen garden, and it would be great if they were adopted, grown and loved by orchard fruit enthusiasts everywhere. They’re all excellent cooking apples, particularly good for baking – even if their fruit isn’t made into biffins – and the uncooked apples have great storage potential too; they tend to hang on the tree over winter, and when properly kept they should store well into spring.

Practising what I preach, I’ve made a start on increasing their numbers myself. Thanks to a generous gift from my good friend Jo Green, I’ve had a ‘Norfolk Beefing’ tree for a couple of years now, and I’m growing it as an air-potted spindle tree on my allotment. And earlier this year I added a row of ‘Beefing’ cordon trees to another part of my plot as well; two each of ‘Norfolk Beefing’, ‘Striped Beefing’ and ‘Herefordshire Beefing’, having purchased scions from the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale and grafted them to dwarfing rootstock. I hope these new cordon trees will establish well, become productive in the next couple of years, and bear fruit for many more to come.

Apple flowers on my own ‘Norfolk Beefing’ tree, May 2023

Okay then, time to get on with the business at hand. I’ll start with the table of contents for the series by way of an aid to navigation, and then explain a bit more about the background to my ‘Beefing’ investigations, and how I’m going to go about telling the story.

The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story – Table of Contents

Full details of the contents of both series can be found on the main Norfolk Biffins and Beefing Apples – Table of Contents page. The Table of Contents below covers the main chapters of this series, the ‘Beefing’ Apples Story.

Feel free to dip in to any chapter, or sub-section of a chapter, that takes your fancy, but I do suggest you read the main introductory section for each chapter before diving into any of the sub-sections, as the latter will make much more sense when placed in their historical context.

INTRODUCTION

The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story (<< You Are Here >>)
– Table of Contents for The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story
– Why ‘Beefing’ Apples?
– What’s the Plan?
— Question One: Can I Solve the Naming Debate: ‘Beefing’, ‘Beaufin’, ‘Biffin’, or ..?
— Question Two: Can I Confirm the Place of Origin of the ‘Beefing’ Apples?
— Time to Get Started

CHAPTER ONE

The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story, 1900 – Today
– The ‘Beefing’ Apples Today
— ‘Norfolk Beefing’
— ‘Striped Beefing’
— ‘Herefordshire Beefing’
– ‘Beefing’ Apples in 20th and 21st Century Sources
— 20th and 21st Century Source Material
— ‘Beefing’ Apple Name-Variants in 20th and 21st Century Sources
— ‘Beefing’ Apple Origin Stories in 20th and 21st Century Sources
– ‘Beefing’ Apples, Chapter One: Summary

CHAPTER TWO

Part One:
The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story, 1850 – 1899
– ‘Beefing’ Apples in Second Half of the Nineteenth Century Sources
— Second Half of the Nineteenth Century Source Material
— ‘Beefing’ Apple Name-Variants in Second Half of the Nineteenth Century Sources
– Meet Dr. Robert Hogg, Champion of the British ‘Beefing’
— Dr. Hogg and the Naming of the ‘Beefing’ apples
— ‘Beefing vs ‘Beaufin’, the First Bout
— ‘Beefing’ vs ‘Beaufin’ (vs ‘Biffin’), the U.S. Rematch
— ‘Beefing’ (Eventually) Victorious!
– A Few Notes on the Significance of Synonyms
— Say Goodbye to ‘Winter Colman’
— The Tale of Taliesin
— Summing Up Synonym Significance
– Dr. Hogg’s Further ‘Beefing’ Adventures
— Dr. Hogg and ‘Striped Beefing’
— Dr. Hogg and ‘Herefordshire Beefing’
– ‘Beefing’ Apples, Chapter Two: Summary

Part Two:
Dr. Hogg vs. “Pyrus” – ‘Beefing’ vs. ‘Beaufin’
– A Very Gentlemanly Bout of Fisticuffs
– A Particularly Beefy ‘Beefing’?
– Can We Declare a Winner on Points?
– “Pyrus” … Unmasked?

Part Three:
Dr. Hogg and the Rediscovery of ‘Striped Beefing’
– The Return of a Forgotten ‘Beefing’
– Hogg’s Plan for the ‘Striped Beefing’?
— Mr. Hogg and Mr. Rivers
– Was Hogg’s ‘Striped Beefing’ Plan a Success?
— ‘Striped Beefing’ Added to the Chiswick Garden
— ‘Striped Beefing’ in Print at Home
— ‘Striped Beefing’ in Print Overseas
— ‘Striped Beefing’ at the R.H.S. Exhibitions
– Chapter Two, Part Three, Summary and Conclusions

Part Four:
Dr. Hogg, Dr. Bull and the Origins of ‘Herefordshire Beefing’
– Introducing Dr Bull and The Herefordshire Pomona
— Dr Hogg Meets the Woolhopians
– A New ‘Beefing is (Re?)Discovered
— ‘Herefordshire Beefing’ is “Described and Figured for the First Time”
– Detailed Discrepancies and Additional Oddities
— Descriptive Divergences
— Seeking the Stroud List
— Hogg’s Oddities
— Et Tu, A.F.B.?
– Cranston’s Nursery and the “New” ‘Herefordshire Beefing’
— Passing Off, Sir? The Very Idea!
— Cranston’s Goes Marching On
– Herefordshire Biffins?
– Was ‘Herefordshire Beefing’ New or Not?
— Who Brought the ‘Beefing’ to the Meeting?
— Cranston’s Beefing?
— Bull’s Beefing?
— Bulmer’s Beefing?
— Herbert’s Beefing?
– Summary and Conclusions: The Most Likely Origin Story of ‘Herefordshire Beefing’?

The series is still very much a work in progress; section headers and links will be added here once each chapter has been posted. The main chapters in this series that I’m still working on are:

Chapter Three: The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story, 1800 – 1849
Chapter Four: The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story, 1750 – 1799
Chapter Five: The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story, 1698 – 1749
Chapter Six: The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story – An Extended Family Tree?
Chapter Seven: The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story – Wherefore Art Thou “Beefing”?
Research Notes and Appendices

Why ‘Beefing’ Apples?

Why am I so interested in this small group of obscure apple varieties? Why have I spent so long studying them? Well, I initially started looking into the history of the ‘Beefing’ apples almost by accident¹; they were a random curiosity that caught my attention and snagged my focus on more than one occasion. But once I began researching this odd little group of apples – starting with the dried, compressed “biffin” sweetmeats that they were traditionally baked into – in more detail, then the more interested I became. The more back-stories and side-stories became apparent, then the more I wanted to tell as much of the story of these rather fascinating apples as I could.

The fact that debates about the correct name and origin of these apples arose at all suggests to me that, at some point, some people really cared about the history of these apples². In turn, this has encouraged me to care about these apples, and the stories associated with them. Now I want to share those stories, by bringing them to a new audience.

What’s the Plan?

In order to give the long and detailed story of the ‘Beefing’ group of apples a bit more structure, and to provide the reader with a strong thread or two to follow over the course of the series, I’ve set myself a mission: to explore and detail two deeply interwoven themes, each of which is anchored by a key question that I’ll be attempting to answer. And here are those questions:

Question One: Can I Solve the Naming Debate: ‘Beefing’, ‘Beaufin’, ‘Biffin’, or ..?

This might sound like a question that I’ve answered already; after all, I’ve introduced the ‘Beefing’ apples, have been consistently calling them ‘Beefing’ apples and, as I’ll explain in the next chapter on ‘Beefing’ apples in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, ‘Beefing’ has been the preferred name-variant for many decades.

Excerpt from *Nomenclator Pomologicus* (1889) by Carl Mathieu

That hasn’t always been the case though. In fact, these three varieties have, over the past three hundred years or more, been blessed with a bounty of name / spelling variations, and a long array of additional synonyms besides.

It’s true that the ‘Beefing’ apples are far from the only apple varieties to have attracted more than their fair share of synonyms³, but it’s the fact that different ‘Beefing’-themed name-variants have not only been suggested, but championed and argued over by various pomologists and enthusiasts at various times⁴ that has made this particular group of apples so interesting to study. These debates, over which name-variant ought to be used, have generated some unusually impassioned opinions, as I’ll be exploring and explaining throughout the series.

In order to plot the patterns, changes and developments in the preferred name for the ‘Beefing’ apples, I’ve scoured the archives for as many pomological sources of ‘Beefing’ information as I can find. Here’s a quick example: the entry for ‘Norfolk Beefing’ in Robert Hogg’s British Pomology vol I (1851):

The entry gives ‘Norfolk Beaufin’, ‘Norfolk Beau-fin’, ‘Norfolk Beefin’, ‘Reeds Baker’ and ‘Catshead Beaufin’ as the variety’s known “synonymes”, and by the time Hogg compiled and published The Fruit Manual 5th edition (1884) he was able to add ‘Norfolk Beaufing’ and ‘Taliesin’ to the list. But that’s really just the tip of the name-variant iceberg as far as this particular apple is concerned.

In pursuit of my mission to identify the original nomenclature of the ‘Beefing’ apples, I’ll be attempting not only to collate the smörgåsbord of name-variations that I’ve uncovered in the course of my own research⁵ and explore the more significant and interesting deviations from the ‘Beefing’ norm in more detail, but also to look for patterns in how they’ve changed and evolved over the years, and to suggest possible reasons as to why such a large catalogue of names – for what amounts to a very small group of apples – might have arisen in the first place.

Question Two: Can I Confirm the Place of Origin of the ‘Beefing’ Apples?

Various writers, at various times and in various publications, have described an origin story, or simply declared a single place of origin, for one or more of the ‘Beefing’ apples. My goal is to determine, by exploring as much of the source material as I can lay my hands on, which, if any of them, might be correct.

Map of the ‘County of Norfolk, divided into Hundreds’ by Jones, Smith & Co. for Smith’s *New English Atlas*, 1804.

In other words, I’ll be asking questions such as: where do the ‘Beefing’ apples come from? Is ‘Norfolk Beefing’ truly, as assumed by most commentators, Norfolk born and bred; bullishly East Anglian through and through, or did it originally hail from elsewhere? What about ‘Striped Beefing’ and ‘Herefordshire Beefing’? Are their origin stories as clear-cut as some of the pomological writers of past centuries would have us believe? Is ‘Striped Beefing’ likewise a Norfolk variety through-and-through, or do its origins lie further afield? Does ‘Herefordshire Beefing’ have an obvious point of origin, as signposted? Or is it an import from beyond the county?

And there’s one more question to consider: will it even be possible to pin down any definitive answers and draw any firm conclusions, or will I be left with little more than a trail of tantalising breadcrumbs leading back into the deep, dark woods of pomological history?

There’s only one way to find out…

Time to Get Started

I’m going to begin the story in the present day, with a look at the characteristics and availability of the three current ‘Beefing’ apple varieties. Then, in subsequent chapters, I’ll work my way backwards through the nineteenth and eighteenth, centuries towards the earliest sources of information that I currently have access to. Finally, I’ll branch out into a discussion of other, non-‘Beefing’ apples that could potentially be close relation, or even a progenitor, to one or more of the ‘Beefing’ apples. I’ll also discuss⁶ some of the linguistic factors that may have resulted in the wide variety of alternate names that these apples have been labelled with.

Oh, and I’ll also be taking a number of tangential diversions along the way, dipping into side-stories and background information that I think helps not just to highlight interesting details about the ‘Beefing’ apples, but also bring to light some of the partially-forgotten episodes, events, and people of importance to the history of British pomology.

New information will surely come to light in future – and I’ll certainly incorporate any new details as and when they arise – but for now, I think this is as definitive and comprehensive a history of these fine, old apple varieties – ‘Norfolk Beefing’, ‘Herefordshire Beefing’, ‘Striped Beefing’, and several more that have been lost along the way – as you’re likely to find. I do hope you’ll enjoy discovering the facts, the fallacies and the flights of fancy about this fascinating group of apples, as much as I’ve enjoyed researching and writing them.

Having said that, I’m fully aware that this is a very long series about the intricate history of a very small group of apples. If you don’t have the time or inclination to read all the way through, then once the whole series has been posted, I’ll add a link here that will take you straight to the summary and conclusions page, in case you just want to read an overview of my investigations into the nomenclature and potential origin story of the ‘Beefing’ group of apples.

In the meantime if a detailed investigation into the currently traceable history of these fine old apples sounds like your cup of tea, then please feel free to make yourself comfortable, with your preferred beverage and maybe a fortifying snack or two to hand, as I begin to tell the ‘Beefing’ Apples Story.

In the Next Chapter

I’ll take a look at the story of the ‘Beefing’ apples from the start of the twentieth century to the present day, introducing the three canonical apples in the group, and looking at their current popularity and availability.

˃˃ Click here to read the next chapter: The ‘Beefing’ Apples Story, 1900 – Today.

˃˃ Click here to return to the main Table of Contents and explore the rest of the series.

Comments, Questions, Suggestions?

If you have any feedback or queries about any of the content in these articles, please feel free to get in touch by one of these two methods:

Post a Comment: each chapter has its own comments section, and the comment form can be found by scrolling to the bottom of the page. I do check and reply to comments fairly regularly, and all feedback is much appreciated.
Send an Email: details are on the contact info page of the site. I usually check and respond to emails at the weekend, so please accept my apologies if there’s a delay in replying.

Footnotes

1
See ‘The Story So Far‘ in the overall series introduction for details of the other articles I’ve written on the subject along the way. ↩︎
2
Or, equally possibly, cared very deeply indeed about their reputations and standing as pomologists and scholars of the Malus, which is something I find just as interesting. ↩︎
3
Take a look at the National Fruit Collection database entries for the likes of ‘Orleans Reinette‘, ‘Golden Pippin‘ or ‘Court Pendu Plat‘ and you’ll see synonym lists that make the N.F.C. entry for ‘Norfolk Beefing‘ seem rather sparse by comparison. ↩︎
4
As have other apple varieties, I’m sure, but those are other stories for other research projects. ↩︎
5
The National Fruit Collection Database draws heavily on Muriel W. G. Smith’s superb National Apple Register of the United Kingdom (1971), in which Smith drew on key pomological sources of the period 1805-1970 to compile “all the names used for every apple cultivar known to have been grown in Great Britain over the period 1853-1968”. However, a lot of additional source material has been digitised and made available via various online archives since Smith’s work was undertaken, so I’ve been able to expand on the list in the National Register quite significantly. ↩︎
6
Somewhat inexpertly, it has to be said. ↩︎